Monday, June 26, 2006

Paul the apostle in the first book of Corinthians, chapter 13, verse 10, declares, ‘But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.’ This statement is within a dialogue about the gifts of faith, hope and love, where the writer explains that love is the greatest of the three.

That ‘which is perfect’ refers to the second coming of Christ, when Christians will be perfected, and the fullest understanding and experience of Christ’s love will be known by them.

That ‘which is in part’ is the imperfection of the present age, where Christ’s love is known in some measure, but not in the fullest sense; therefore, for the Christian, perfection will be achieved on that blessed day when Christ returns to the earth for His saints. Meanwhile, there is no perfection here on the earth, which is subject to decay, as a result of the curse placed upon it by God. (Genesis 3:17-19)

What bearing does this have on our lives? Well, it affects us at all times. We strive for perfection, but we are bound never to achieve it. Frightening, isn’t it? Just imagine, when we travel by car, aeroplane or boat, none of these means of transport is perfect, and yet we have faith in them. Fortunately, more often than not, they do function safely, enabling us to reach our destination - despite their imperfections.

When I am engaged in building a boat for my own pleasure and satisfaction I always strive for perfection, and yet I know I can never achieve it. There have been times of disappointment, because I did not reach the standard I desired. On the other hand, although I did not attain complete perfection, what I did achieve was a higher standard than I would have obtained had I not striven for perfection. If I had set a lower standard, I’m sure I would have fallen below it, which would never have given me satisfaction.

By always striving for the best possible standards in all that I do, I create for myself opportunities for satisfaction - although the result of my efforts inevitably fall short of perfection; therefore the boat I am building will not be perfect, but there is the possibility that I may derive satisfaction from her.

Saturday, June 17, 2006

“I have a dream,” were the words of Martin Luther King, and what a wonderful dream - the equality of the races, a world without prejudice - but how impossible, because of the fallen nature of man. King’s dream was based on his belief of the Christian tenet of the equality of people before God, all created in the image of Him who made them.

It is said dreamers are very dangerous people, and why? Because reality is no barrier to their wildest ambitions, and they will overcome extreme difficulties to achieve what at first may appear to those without vision, impossible – flight to the moon was at first, only a dream, but without those wild dreamers who dared achieve the impossible against all odds, the world today would be as in the Dark Ages.

In our times there is no lack of dreamers; indeed, man’s accomplishment in scientific knowledge and application makes possible the fruition of dreams that were previously utterly beyond the reach of man. Perhaps not too far into the future, the fight against the common cold will be won. In times past, adventurers like Christopher Columbus took the boundaries of man beyond the horizon where he and his crew did not fall into an abyss. To achieve her dream, Ellen MacArthur sailed single-handed around the world faster than any other person, due in part to the technology that went into building her trimaran, but in the main, her achievement was dependent upon her unwavering belief in herself.

We all have our dreams; some are easily achieved, but others will never become a reality. My dream is to own a Paradox sailing boat, and to that end, I am working hard at building her, whenever I can find time. As she grows week by week, month by month, I can see there's a chance that my dream will become a reality, but when she'll be finished can only be a guess based on the length of time it has taken me to date. Therefore I assume that what remains to be built, i.e., the interior, decks and cabin top, will take at least the same amount of time it has to reach the current state, which would mean she could be on the water in the summer of 2007.